


Underground

by DownToTheSea



Category: Sanctuary (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-28
Updated: 2018-10-28
Packaged: 2019-08-08 17:22:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16433648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DownToTheSea/pseuds/DownToTheSea
Summary: Helen and Nikola run into a little trouble dealing with an earth elemental.





	Underground

**Author's Note:**

> For day three of Teslen Appreciation Week: "elements."

“Helen!” Nikola shouted over the crash of falling rocks. “I’ve done it!”

“Done what?” Helen rolled away from Nikola to avoid the huge boulder that smashed into the place she had just been standing. “Can’t this wait?”

“I’ve named my invention!” Nikola sounded gleeful, despite the fact that an angry earth elemental was hurling projectiles at them with surprising speed and less surprising force. “I’ll call it… the Eleminiturizer!”

Helen stopped stock still for a minute, gaping at him. “Bloody hell.” Then she had to move again, clutching one of Nikola’s devices in her hand. (She refused to call it an Eleminiturizer. Honestly…)

Nikola, never one for subtlety, apparently got tired of dodging rocks like a mere mortal and decided to start vaporizing them with lightning. The resulting light show would have been astounding, if Helen had been able to pay attention to it.

“Would you stop that? It’s only making it angrier,” she shouted at him. As if to prove her point, the elemental roared, a large section of the cave wall detaching and spinning towards Nikola.

“I’m distracting it for you!”

“You’re doing it because you think it’s cool,” Helen muttered, but he was at least somewhat correct. The elemental was barely paying any attention to her now, and she was able to sidle along the opposite wall, nearly close enough to use the Ele – that was, Nikola’s device.

She didn’t think he had heard her, but his vampiric hearing must have picked up on her words. “We all have flaws, Helen, even me. Oops –  ” This last was cut off as a boulder smacked into him, lifting him off his feet and sending him flying back through the cavern.

It would have seriously injured or possibly killed anyone else, but Nikola was back on his feet in a few seconds, snapping his arm back into place and looking annoyed. He opened his mouth, no doubt to chastise the elemental for being troublesome and interrupting what was supposed to have been a quiet morning in with Helen, but then he disappeared.

Helen blinked. He had been there only a moment ago, and now he was just… gone. Then she noticed a dark hole gaping in the ground where he had been standing, and realized the elemental had opened up a chasm right underneath him.

For now, she could only hope he was alright. Nikola could survive almost anything, it was true, but depending on how far he had been dropped, even he might have been hurt. And if it closed the chasm up before he could get out, she would never be able to find him.

Helen launched herself off the rock wall and towards the elemental, which had just remembered she was there and was turning to deal with her. Before it could throw anything at her, she had activated the tiny device in her palm.

A brilliant flash of blue lit up the cavern and the elemental recoiled before it began to shrink. Within a few seconds it stood no higher than her knee, and a moment later she could have picked it up in her hand. Quickly, Helen tapped another button and the elemental froze, now small enough that the stasis field Nikola’s device generated could trap it easily. She gave it a moment to make sure it was really neutralized, then scrambled over to the chasm.

“Nikola!” she called down. There was no response.

Helen swallowed, then pulled out her phone. Perhaps Henry could send one of his drones down, and they could see where Nikola was and if he was injured. But as she was keying in his number, she heard a faint scuffling from below, and a groan that was distinctly Nikola.

“Nikola?” she tried again. “How are you doing down there?”

“I hate caves,” he said. “Giant bugs, giant living rocks, giant tentacled abominations from another plane of existence… You know, I’m sensing a theme.”

“I revamped you in a cave,” Helen reminded him, peering over the edge. She still couldn’t see him clearly, but there was a vague silvery blur that could have been his waistcoat.

“That was a tomb. Tombs are different. Tombs are  _ fun _ .”

Nikola came into view and Helen could see that he was using his claws to anchor himself in the rock before leaping up. At last he heaved himself over the edge and collapsed next to Helen, which seemed to be more for show than anything else, as he was barely even breathing heavily.

“Regretting your hubris?” she inquired.

Nikola cracked an eyelid open. He was covered in dirt and quite rumpled, but appeared to be in perfect health. Helen breathed a little easier.

“My dear, you should know that I  _ never  _ regret my hubris.” He sat up, brushing a hand over his face and succeeding only in smudging himself more. His expression changed.

“Helen, you’re hurt.” He peered at her with concern. It was true; there was a gash running along her face where a shard of rock had scraped past. Not deep, but it did sting. Nikola slid his hand behind her head and leaned over, kissing the cut lightly.

“You’ll get dirt into the wound,” Helen said, but she caught his hand and squeezed it.

“Oh Helen, I love being dirty with you.” Nikola kissed her again on the cheek this time, nuzzling her softly for a little while before pulling away and glancing behind her.

“I see the Eleminiturizer worked like a charm.”

“Please stop calling it that.”


End file.
